Fox Cub
by colourseeker12
Summary: What happens when Naruto stumbles across a fox cub? And why does he act so differently towards it? What secrets is it hiding behind such a cute face? New account, edited story.
1. Chapter 1

Sapphire eyes stared at the bundle of rice placed in front of him. He sighed and started eating in it in heaped handfuls, thinking of the different flavours of ramen instead.

He looked up as he thoughtfully chewed, Sakura in front of him eating her rice while studying a graciously large book. _Poisons and antidotes_ littered the cover which was placed upon her lap, mostly hidden from the naked eye. Flames whispering to themselves in glee of cackles and crackles, placed in front of the blonde, and in the centre of their unintentional circle. He looked over to Kakashi to whom that which leant against a large tree reading his well- known orange 'handbook_'_, chuckling to himself at random intervals now and again.

Naruto rolled his eyes and grasped the last amount of rice in his clutch and stuffed it in his mouth. As he chucked the leaf in the blazing fire, he stood up, popping and stretching his aching joints and muscles. _Stupid mission.._.

The blonde walked towards his ready- made sleeping bag, another substitute from his ordinary life, an uncomfortable one however.

_Rustle… Rustle…  
_

Jumping into an attack position, kunai ready in his hand Naruto looked around sharply, his ninja instincts kicking in. Sakura slipped aside Naruto in the same stance and just as alert for attack.

Kakashi simply tilted his head to the side, visible eye squinting at the offending noise in the distance.

A small snout poked out of the bush, twitching as it smelt food. The rest of its head following suit, cocking it to the side as it noticed an odd blonde human staring intentionally at it, creamy brown, with a slight tinge of red, looked at deep blue, neither set of eyes blinking as the rest of the animal's body came out of the bush. Finally a large bushy tail with a contrasting creamy white tip was the last of the animal, swishing back and forth, almost in a playful sort of manner.

"A fox?" Sakura mumbled, Kakashi just sighed in response.

A fox cub, a mere child of its kind seemed to spark something deep inside of Naruto however. His eyes faded from the gorgeous depths of a bright tone of blue to the mysteriously dangerous deep red that mimicked the shade of blood. His pupils stretched out into flat slits, like a cat or even as a snakes' would, thin lines of onyx that shun from the flames below contrasted against the red. Nails were converting into claws, feral and unkempt. The three scars that slashed each of the sides on his cheek bones became thicker and more prominent. Naruto's hair had also seemed to grow in an instant, becoming an even more tangled blonde mess. But to his fellow team mate and friend, Kakashi, it was noted silently by him that the boy, for once, was actually able to control his feelings within this mode. They weren't taken over by the nine- tailed demon that resided within the Jinjuriki. The Kuuybi, however, seemed just as curious as Naruto himself, allowing the boy to take over the chakra intake without the risk of complete possession.

Naruto crept forward, slowly and gently. Only a foot apart from the seemingly innocent cub, he crouched down and, and looked it straight in the eyes. It whimpered quietly in response, unsure of the strangely clothed creature before him. The two of its fellow kind stayed back, obviously shocked of his transformation, yet still alert if the boy were to strike at any time. The cub's large tail drooped down in between its back legs, ears sagging down as it cowered before Naruto's now fierce look- his playfulness disappearing instantly.

To Naruto's surprise, the fox cub decided to drop down and roll over, exposing its creamy coloured stomach as though it were an act of a friendship. The teenage ninja found himself stroking its soft fur on its stomach, up to its jaw and back down again. A small purr like growl came from inside the fox's small throat. Naruto's lips moved by themselves as a soft growl brewed from deep in the back of his own throat and came out in response. With a sudden yip the fox cub brought Naruto back to his seemingly usual self, ruby eyes back to sapphire.

Remembering where he was he leapt back, looking around crazed and confused. Kakashi and Sakura stared at him with large concerned eyes. Sakura was visibly shaking beside the elder man, unaware of what just occurred.

"Are you okay Naruto?" asked Kakashi, his usually confident voice wavering slightly, "what do you think just happened?" stepping toward him with ease.

"I... I don't know..." Naruto mumbled back.

He looked back over to the bush, the fox cub was nowhere in sight. Naruto shook his head, raking his hair away from his forehead with his tanned hands.

"L… let's just get to bed, were going back to K… Kohona tomorrow so I guess I'll tell the old Hokage what happened, and we'll see what happens from t… there..." Naruto told Sakura and Kakashi as he crawled into his sleeping bag, exhausted.

Both nodded in agreement, still astounded at what they had just witnessed.


	2. Chapter 2

_~ Copyright to Masashi Kishimoto ~_

Tsunade blew away her blonde bangs as she rubbed her tired eyes with a ragged sigh. Sorting out and signing off missions whilst occupying boring meetings with the senior council members were only the start of her eventful yet boring day. _Why did I even bother to accept being Hokage in the first place... _she thought to herself, eyeing the sake hidden in her special drawer to her side.

Tsunade looked up and over her hunched shoulders and out towards the large windows that looked out over the Hidden Leaf Village, Kohonakure. _Her _village, the one she vowed to protect as long as she is alive and still the Hokage. Looking up to the Kohona Mountains the past Hokages stared back down at her with permanent serious expressions.

A sharp knock came from her large double doors of her office in front of her. She jumped slightly and tidied herself up slightly, smoothing out creases in her clothes and fixing her hair up.

"Come in..." Tsunade called out.

~~~

Sakura looked to her left at Naruto, beside her, running through the tree tops of the forest. Colours blurred on each side of her. We're finally on our way back to Kohona. _He's been terribly quiet since last night though... I hope he is okay… _Sakura thought to herself.

The blonde weaved through the tree tops with ease. Not a single word had been spoken since Kakashi told them that they should get going earlier that morning.

"Naruto... what's wrong?" Sakura finally said, breaking the silence between the three, "being quiet isn't really like you…"

"It's nothing Sakura, I'm just thinking" Naruto called back to Sakura. He ran faster to catch up to Kakashi, whom was leading the way, Naruto didn't want to explain to Sakura what was going through his mind, especially if it were to mean to explain the nine- tails that resided within him. For some reason he preferred if the pinkette wouldn't know full stop and just let it be.

_That isn't like you either_… she mumbled to herself, away from the blondes hearing range.

The fox's eyes seemed to keep showing up in Naruto's mind. The sound of its growl when he stroked his fur. His movements and aura of the animal child were all so mysterious to him. _What did truly happen back there?_

Naruto also wondered where he went off to. **Yeah me too... **came a raspy yet deep voice from the back of his mind. Blonde brows furrowed at the sound, _shut up 'ya old fox... _the larger fox in the form of a spirit just mumbled and growled in return, but didn't say another word and seemed to go back to sleep.

"Are you sure Naruto?" Sakura yelled out again, concern deep in her voice, "you can tell me anything you know."

"I know Sakura, trust me okay? It's nothing," Naruto turned his head back towards Sakura again, giving her a goofy smile while cocking his head to the side and giving a thumbs up, Gai Sensei and Rock Lee style.

It seemed to convince Sakura slightly, but something about the stance just didn't seem right, "Bu..." she started to complain but Kakashi quickly interrupted...

"Kohonakure is close now. We should get there in about five to ten minutes, that's if we pick up speed though." He said looking backwards to the teenage ninjas, rolling his visible eye.

Sakura kept quiet and continued to run ahead to Kohona, glancing at Naruto now and again from the corner of her emerald eyes. He seemed to be deep in thought throughout the rest of the trip however, oblivious to the girl beside him.

~~~

"Come in..." called Tsunade from the inside of the Hokage's office.

Naruto sighed as he opened the double doors. Kakashi and Sakura followed behind him. As a law in Kohona they had to report their missions the Hokage as soon as they set foot into the village. By either verbally, as they usually do, or to be written as in format that of a summary. It was apparently very crucial to the Fifth Hokage, or so the elder council members had advised her. Naruto rolled his eyes at the thought.

"So was the mission to Sunakure successful?" asked Tsunade, casually, intertwining her fingers in front of her as she looked through her thin bangs.

"It was indeed, My Lady Hokage," Kakashi answered for the group, saluting, his past ANBU actions showing, "it was however tiring as it was such a long journey but overall the mission was a success. We gave Lord Kazekage, Gaara, the message and parcel as needed, and he gives his thanks and regards."

"Very good team Kakashi, you did well," the Fifth praised the group, nodding. Kakashi then passed over his notes and a letter for her. _She seems to enjoy taking her sweet time… old hag… _thought the male blonde.

Naruto dropped his gaze uncomfortably down at his feet. _Would it be a good or bad thing to tell her of the fox and what happened? But Sakura is right beside me, I can't say that if front of her, she'd want an explanation as to why, and I can't give her that._ jIt just didn't feel right to him, he couldn't bring himself to. He didn't understand why, but something inside of him told him not to tell her, and especially not in front of Sakura... **No, don't tell the old hag, it's our business, keep it a secret...** Kuuybi growled in the back of his mind, listening in to Naruto's scrambled thoughts. Naruto agreed, for once he had a valid point. _So I don't think I'll tell her what happened... at least not yet anyway._

He looked over to his right at Kakashi, he caught his eye and quickly shook his head slightly to indicate his decision. Kakashi calmly placed his gaze back over to Tsunade and continued to talk to her. He understood. Naruto looked to his left, he searched green eyes with his blue, they caught each other in an instant and Naruto repeated what he did to Kakashi. After a few minutes of eyebrows furrowing Sakura etched her head slightly to the side in a lopsided nod and immediately looked back to Tsunade as well.

After Kakashi finally finished explaining what happened on the mission to the fifth (leaving out the about the fox cub, as promised) he bowed with respect. The blonde and pink haired girl repeated Kakashi's movement and the three exchanged bye's with the Hokage and with a roll on their heels they left the room silently.

Outside of the Hokage's majestic building, Sakura flippantly turned to Naruto with her arms crossed. Pink eyebrows were still furrowed together, and wore confused yet concerned expression.

"What happened there Naruto, why don't you want us to tell the fifth what happened?" asked Kakashi.

"I'm not sure sensei, but it just doesn't seem right to me," Naruto answered, awkwardly, he knew this would've happened, having to explain it to them.

"You should tell her Naruto." Sakura stated simply.

Naruto just shook his head and looked away, for once actually opposing from his usual bubbly characteristics. Kakashi murmured something about saving an old woman and her cat and disappeared in a poof. Naruto and Sakura rolled their eyes, exchanged goodbyes and walked opposite directions to their apartments.


	3. Chapter 3

Naruto thrashed and turned in his bed. His hair drenched from sticky sweat was fixed on him like the coat of a wet dog. It soaked his clothes, sheets and pillows. He growled, groaned and yelped constantly from the horrid nightmare that played out through his other world that was his conscious.

He has had many for years upon years throughout his life span. Every night from every day. Every single one he remembers. Every single minor detail was etched within his mind permanently. The Kyuubi would take over his mind for the night, forcing Naruto to dream his dreams. But in most of the nightmares it was mostly of memories from his blood red eyes. Memories of that fateful night- the invasion on Kohonagakure by the very spiritual demon that is the feared Nine- Tailed demon. It was mostly of blood, fear and pain. All the civilians screaming and crying, the heap of forces that were that of the occupation of a ninja were set in large groups to fight off the beast. The fear and immobility that Naruto felt was what scared him the most in these dreams. He couldn't do a thing to help these people set out before him from a such recent past life. Instead it felt as though he were the one killing the many innocent people.

The Fourth Hokage would appear in a flash from the poof of dense fog and smoke. A colossal sized toad would appear out of thin air, allowing the yellow flash to seat on top of it. Showing to the civilians and fellow ninja that their Kage was there and they were once again safe. However he would disappear just as quickly. As well as the Nine- Tailed fox. Minato sealed the enormous fox away deep inside the baby form of Naruto. Minato was gone, the toad saluted and mimicked its arrival for it disappearance. The baby screamed and screamed and cried as three strokes appeared on either side of his cheeks. They went deep red as the seal on his stomach turned silver to black in an instant. The baby was suddenly silent, deathly almost. Like the rest of the village. The nightmare ended.

However, Naruto was not expecting such as what was happening to his body from the physical world. It was different this time. This time the midst of the dream had made him thrash even more violently and started to scream, his eyes quenched shut in retching pain…

_My screaming filled the tiny room... I can feel my limbs burning. The pain… the pain is blinding..._

_Am I on fire?_

_What's happening... it feels so real?_

_Empty questions just continued to fill the eerie room..._

_Another rippling of pain slipped through my body as I screamed a bloodcurdling scream... it hurt. Everything hurt. I looked down at my shaking hands. My nails were growing longer and sharper, as though they were claws that of a werewolf. A vibrant orange aura surrounded me, or was it my chakra burning through my flesh? My scars on either side of my cheek bones seemed to be burnt to a crisp already by this endless pain, but instead they stretched and became deeper, much deeper, alike newly appointed slashed upon my skin. My hair became heavier, longer and messier. My eyes felt like they had melted inside my sockets, the pupils became dilated and thinned out into an onyx shaded line. Fur became to grow on my arms... legs, my body morphed slowly. Why... w, why is this happening... this hasn't happened before. "No… this should not be happening!" Naruto managed to whisper in a growl, after yelping out a howl._

_Naruto felt his soul slowly become distant and horridly weak… as though it was slowly getting sucked in by the Kyuubi through a narrow straw..._

"**NOOOO!"**

Naruto shot up, screaming, his back arched up from his bed. He lifted his head as he thrashed his head to the sides, his sheets were everywhere, wrapped all around him. His pillow has soaked and ripped apart, feathers covered the small area of his room. Naruto's breathe coursed through his slender wind pipe and didn't seem to want to slow down... Naruto buried his face into his quivering hands, cursing to himself, blood dipped through his fingers.

"Just a nightmare… it was just a nightmare…" Naruto whispered to himself, "Why did it feel so real though?"

His whole body shook violently. The bed frame trembled against the wall lightly. He ran his hand through his drenched blonde locks, pulling them, pain following, to wake himself to "reality". It wasn't real… he reminded himself, it wasn't real... He laid his heaving body back down onto his bed with a thud, closing his eyes in the process.

After breakfast and a quick but refreshing shower, brush of the hair and teeth and a change of clothes, Naruto walked along the streets of the kohona streets. Villagers- non ninja's, strangers, glared and whispered as Naruto walked past. He was used to this by now, it happened all the time, ever since he was young, misunderstood, hated, bashed and yelled at. Just because of the fox that inhabited him.

Naruto blinked back to reality as he saw sakura running up to him with huge grin plastered on her face. She waved when she noticed him staring at her. He felt his heart flutter slightly, Sakura, his childhood crush. Sakura was beside him in an instant. She wore a short light peach coloured dress and vibrant purple flats. It was obvious to anyone she knew that she had begun to allow her hair to outgrow again, letting her sakura coloured locks flick around by the gush of wind. Her neatly trimmed nails were painted a subtle, creamy grey.

He took in her strong vivacious scent and her elegant curves within a second. His senses were already double of what a ninjas' were trained as, no thanks to the ignorant fox inside him. She smelt of sweet strawberries and cherry blossoms perfectly morphed together with a slight hint of vanilla...

Naruto awoke from his daydream like state by Sakura waving her small hands in his face.

"What?" he complained sheepishly as he got caught daydreaming, rubbing the back of his neck, a trademark action of his.

The pink haired ninja just sighed and said, "Naruto, I just asked you if you want to come with me to the ramen bar for tea tonight at about seven?"

_Hang on_... was Naruto still day- dreaming? He crossed his arms a pinched his hidden hand. _Ah... Nope... _was Sakura asking Naruto on a date? He blinked at her.

"Y... yeah of course," his squeaked out, surprise took over his face, then went back to his normal loud self in a second, "that'd be awesome!" he bear hugged her as she giggled.

Sakura managed to escape his tight hold she grinned, nodded, then turned on her heel and pranced into Ino's parent's florist that was close by.


	4. Chapter 4

"Did… did that just really happen?" Naruto murmured to himself.

Naruto soon found himself wandering down the streets yet again. He looked up. A couple in the distance were at a shop window holding hands, one was a spiky haired brunette while the other, a blonde with multiple ponytails.

Temari and Shikamaru stood by a shop window, their fingers intertwined together. Shikamaru rolled his eyes and yawned, he just got out of his apartment and Temari has already found something! What the fuck? _It must be a girl thing _he thought... _how troublesome...  
_

Temari was normally a girl not to get overly excited about shops and girly stuff but something about the dress in front of her. She had to get it. Her eyes were glued to the glass staring at the short black and silver dress in front of her, if only Gaara had given her some more money...

Then she sensed someone from behind her. Temari peeled her eyes away from the dress and looked over her shoulder to see none other than the infamous Naruto Uzumaki. Her little brother's first and far most best friend.

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck guiltily when he saw that Temari noticed his staring. Shikamaru soon caught on and saw his friend from a distance, waving for him to join them.

"Hey! Naruto, whoa! I haven't seen you for ages! How did that mission go in Suna?" A small smile tugged on Shikamaru's thin lips. Soon they were engaged in conversation. Naruto jumped around the place, talked too loudly and did all sorts of hand gestures to try to explain his mission. Temari stifled a small chuckle when Naruto over exaggerated an especially 'important' part, causing him to, in return to, fall flat onto his arse. She didn't particularly like this blonde prankster but she went along with the conversation anyway as of such.

After a wholesome chat with the newly grouped couple, Naruto continued his dawdle along the streets of Kohona. Aimlessly pondering at the trinkets that the numerous stores offered. A small gasp from a further away distance caught his attention. Purple tinted dark tresses flicked from a thick gush of wind, it disappeared swiftly around the neighbouring corner. Soft, elegant footsteps followed, getting further away from the offending blonde ninja. Blue eyes widened as he realised what had happened and hurriedly followed.

Hinata ran along the zigzagged streets as fast as her small thongs allowed her. Halting when she saw the dark chocolate locks of her elder cousin in the distance, slowing her pace, she trotted over to him in an attempt to blend in with the crowds.

Naruto skidded along the jagged concrete ground. Sharply looking around in all directions didn't seem to allow him access to finding the girl that seemed to run so quickly away from him in the first place. _What'd I do?  
_

Hinata greeted Neji with a quick, but soft hello, making him jump slightly at the intrusion of his unexpected cousin.

"Hello Hinata, are you in need of anything?" Neji quietly replied, making the ebony haired girl blush at his politeness.

"O… oh, no, s… sorry I…. I was just passing by, and I s…saw you… so I thought I had better say hello and see how you w… were…" whimpered Hinata, murmuring behind her joined together pointer fingers, jabbing together with the rhythm of her voice.

"Well that is kind of you. I am okay… oh," he stopped, slightly arching his head to look over her shoulder, "It's…" squinting his eyes slightly to narrow out the individual from the crowd, "Naruto! Hey, why don't we invite him over for the celebration tonight?"

Hinata fainting from his suggestion, too much blood seeped into her head at the thought. "_ahhhh_…" she groaned softly.

"Hinata!"

A distinctly male call, that of the name of one he was specifically looking for, caught Naruto's attention swiftly. Immediately he sprinted through the crowds to in return see a scarlet cheeked girl fallen to the ground.

"Ah, what happened exactly?" he gruffly asked towards the stunned male cousin counterpart.

"She fainted…"

The blonde promptly picked up the girl bridal style into his arms and started to walk towards his apartment. "Aren't you coming Neji?" he softly smiled over his shoulder.

The brunette simply nodded with a set stern expression, that which followed the rough blonde in front of him as they begun their short walk to Naruto's cramped apartment.


	5. Chapter 5

oOoOoOoOo

_What's taking him so long?_ ... Sakura murmured to herself.

The pink haired leaf Shinobi sighed. She sat inside the infamous ramen bar. She tapped her manicured nails across the stretched out table. Sakura stared at the empty seat opposite to her. _Where the hell is he? _Her iced tea was beginning to go warm… and her patience was running thinner by the minute.

Sakura sighed again and moved her tea and patience to the side. And placed her head on her crossed arms in front herself. The female assistant from behind the counter softly smiled at the sight. Flashes of Naruto's face popped up inside of the pinkette's mind, she felt herself go slightly warmer in her cheeks of her usually creamy face. At the thought of actually fancying Naruto, made her do so. It was always Sasuke that had shone out to her, his deep onyx eyes that pierced through her emerald orbs, making her heart skip a beat, face heat up and a small grin grace her features. Naruto was just a stupid prankster to her back then, she ignored his advances back then, uninterested of him. But after Sasuke rejected her and ran away from Kohona, Sakura finally had opened her eyes and realised the truth. Sasuke only seemed to care about the revenge of killing his elder brother than to continue to strive by his friends and sensei. She hadn't seen him for years on end, although her hope never ceased, the truth was sought out and she realised there was more than the onyx eyed in this world that she lived in.

oOoOoOoOo

Hinata's chest calmly bounced along with her faint breathing. Her generous locks covered the plush mattress below her, her limbs sprawled out, relaxed in her current slumbering state.

_My, isn't she a sound sleeper… _thought the overlooking blonde as he grinned to the other boy in the crowded room. Posters, scrolls, books, weapons, loose coins and empty instant ramen cups filled it along with their presence. Light rays stretched out through the flaking paint, and a darkened desk, the rich male rolled his eyes at the blonde before him, awaiting for his younger cousin to wake.

"I can make some ramen up if you would like me to?" the blonde grinned out.

"Ah… I should be fine, thank you," eye brows furrowed and lips concaved at the thought.

"Wait… ramen," Naruto looked up in thought, something else pulled at the idea from the one word, "raaaammmmmeeennnnnnnnn…" he said, slower, in hope for that something to arise.

Neji's eyes furrowed further, lips thinned out at the randomness that the blonde portrayed. _What was he up to?_ He continued to watch the idiot brush his locks with his large hands, pulling the strands with frustration.

A small gasp filled the room, making the two males jump slightly from their partial forgetfulness of the large lilac coloured eyes below them.

"Hey, are you okay Hinata!?" Naruto half yelled, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

With a swift movement, she sat up, wide eyed and stunned. _Where am I?_ she thought as she stared into deep blue eyes, _and_ _why is Naruto here?  
_

Lilac eyes skimmed over the room that she was slumbering in just a few minutes ago. Realisation struck her hard. Scrolls, posters, weapons, books and… empty ramen cups. It could only mean one place. Plus the fact that Naruto is in the room. Hinata's eyes widened even further_, I'M IN NARUTO'S ROOM! _She screamed to herself, flabbergasted as she noticed her cousin was also placed in the room. A deep red covered her features again.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Hinata, are you okay? Why are you so red?" Naruto asked stupidly, crawling over to the girl, flailing his hands about in worry.

"Here is a glass of water cousin," Neji calmly said towards the girl, pushing Naruto away whilst handing her what he had claimed.

With a huge gulp of water the girl seemed to calm her back down to her shy self, however still stumbled through her words. A dribble of the clear liquid escaped and ran down her fair chin. "I… I… I am thankful… of you.. ou Naruto- kun and you… ou cousin for taking care of … me." She mumbled, pointer fingers jabbing at each other, "but I… I should be g… going s… soon…"

She began to stumble off the futon in an attempt to get out of the crowded room while avoiding eye contact and away from her long time crush.

"Aren't you going to invite him along Hinata?"

"Huh, invite me to what exactly?"

"Ah… well there is a p… party that is going to be on t… tonight within my clan… and Neji suggested that I should invite y… you along," a deep red crept up her cheeks again at her words once they had escaped her plump lips.

"Oh, well of course I would love to join you if you'd have me!" Naruto half yelled in reply, delighted to be invited to an event in the prestigious Hyuga clan's house.

oOoOoOoOo

Sakura lifted her head from her previous position. Her patience had burst and was not pleased. Naruto had not shown up at all. _Something may have happened,_she thought, worry seeped through her veins. Whilst looking through her pink bangs she decided to go to Naruto's apartment to investigate.

oOoOoOoOo

A/N: i apologise for the slight hiatus, i've been incredibly busy. Plus i'm sure you could tell by the previous chapters that the page breaks didn't work, so i've done the "oOoO" thingo instead. Thank you for the current favourites, follows and the reviews i've gotten so far, please keep them going as i do appreciate them :)


	6. Chapter 6

Cherry blossom locks flicked gracefully through the wind. However the stomping of the sandal covered feet did not mimic that of gracefulness. Sakura eyebrows furrowed deep into her face. Emerald eyes burned into any poor individual that passed her by. It was followed by deep grunts of disapproval. Her gloves flicked along with her long heavy strides, flapping against her thigh in sharp thuds, her usual ninja gear was mix- matched with an elegant yet simple aqua dress and at the very moment was glinting against the soft moonlight above.

She stomped through the streets, scaring away anyone who foolishly enough were within her reach. It didn't take long however to get to the small apartment that the blonde teenager dwelled in. Her deep green orbs followed the stairs upward towards the offending door, windows and walls that barricaded the area. The only lights that were visible were what would be the kitchen area, as Sakura's memory stretched to remember.

"Probably making bloody ramen again…" she mumbled to herself, "idiot."

She continued to stomp up the stairs and roughly banged on the door, along with ringing the bell to empathise her point. Even after a few impatient minutes, nothing replied. No idiotic prankster blonde poking his head out to see what the commotion was about, instead the opposite side of the door remained silent.

"Where is he?" she growled, trying to ignore the growing worry crawling up her gut, "he couldn't be too far away. And to miss our outing, that isn't like him at all. Although he does have a tendency to forget things at times… but to forget this, I guess it must have been important," she continued to ramble to herself, slicing through the silence.

Through her ramblings she remembered the place Naruto hides his spare key within his so called 'secret' hiding place. Under the welcome mat of the front door. Cliché almost. With an impatient tug, she lifted up the prickly mat and slid her hand under to fish for the lone key.

And with a swift click the door was unlocked with ease.

_So much for the 'secret location' to put your key…  
_

The door squeaked, making the pinkette flinch and instantly freeze at the sharp noise. Sharply looking around. The place was a mess. With a sigh, she crept along the tight hallway. Poking her emerald eyes around a corner, his room. No one was there. Again she continued to creep along the hallway. Again she snooped around a corner, the kitchen. The place was completely unoccupied. She didn't have to snoop through the place anymore if the boy wasn't in either of those places. _It's a boy thing… _she thought.

oOoOoOoOo

With a muffled yawn the girl continued her stride down the streets of Kohona. After her very brief search through the other teenagers' apartment, she decided to give up her search and journey back to her own. It had been a long day, so Sakura was over the rush and just wanted to slip into the squashy endeavours of her bed.

oOoOoOoOo

The street lights began to fade through the depths of the night. It was roughly an hour past midnight already. Neji grumbled silently to himself, he was already tired, although he would never admit to that in front of his relative and comrade before him. He wanted this party to end already. The brunette leant against on the grand fence that surrounded the estate. In the back garden the couple of teenagers were out for the minute to gather a quick breather.

oOoOoOoOo

A/N: i pardon the shortness.

please R/R. plus please check out my tumblr blog :) the link is on my account


End file.
